Apparatus for cutting and elevating grain



April 13, 1937. P. SCHEWE I APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND ELEVATING GRAINFiled May 6, 1935 y 5] M5 firm/0mm /Mm YMM Patented Apr. 13, 1937APPARATUS .Foa CUTTING Ann ELEVAT- ING GRAIN Paul Schewe, Fairfax. Minn.Application May 6, 1935, sena1Na 19ss3 1 Claim. (ores- 220) UNITED STATS My invention relates to agricultural implemerits and particularly tothe construction and method of using the reels of grain binders and thelike. I

In operation of agrain binder having a reel of conventional design theslats of the reel propel theheads and upper part of the grain in adirectly rearward direction for the intended purpose of laying the grainon the conveyor in positions extending transversely thereacross with theheads toward the rear. Howeventhe heads of the grain are deposited onthe conveyor before the butt ends. of the grain are completely severedby and free of the sickle with the result that movement 5 of theconveyor carries the heads of the grain ahead of the butt ends and thegrain lies on the conveyor in a skewed position and-isso delivered tothe bindingor bundling part of the machine. The bundles formed areaccordingly poorly shaped and less compact than they should be.

A general object of my invention is to provide improvements in the reelsof grain binders whereby stalks of grain will be placed on the conveyorsof such grain binders in positions extending in a direction at rightangles tothe direction of movement of the conveyor.

A more specific object is to provide an improved reel for grain binderswhich will impart not only rearward movement to the heads of grain being0 acted upon, but also a component of movement in a direction oppositeto the direction of movement of the conveyors of such grain binders.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be morefully set forth in the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views, and in which:-

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of a grain binder incorporating myimproved reel;

Fig. 2 is a broken away horizontal sectional view taken along the line2-2 of Fig. 1 as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the hubs of my reel, and

Fig. 4 is a detail of one of the bearings associated with my reel.

Referring to the drawing, my improved reel is shown incorporated in aconventional form of grain binder including a platform 5 partiallysupported by a grain wheel 6, a sickle having guards I and a knife 8disposed immediately forward of and parallel to the front edge of theplatform 5, a conveyor 9 mounted on the platform 5 to receive grain cutby the sickle and deliver such grain PATENT OFFIE to the binding orbundling mechanism (not shown) of themachine, a reel supporting frame I0and a reel pipe or shaft II journaled in suit: able bearingscarried bythe frame I!) and arranged to berotated by suitable means (not shown).The conveyor 9 is driven by suitable means (not shown) in the directionindicated by the arrow C in Fig. 2. The reel pipe or shaft II has acounterclockwise direction of rotation as viewed in Fig. 1.

The reel supporting frame It is toothed inportions to form upwardlyfacing racks Illa. Members I2, in'which the reel pipe II is journaledare mounted on the racks In for longitudinal sliding movement relativethereto. Normally stationary gears I3 are rotatably mounted on therespective members I2 and are meshed with the respective racks Illa.Rotation of the gears I3 results in movement of the members I2 along theracks Illa to adjustively move the reel pipe II forwardly or rearwardlywith respect to the sickle.

All of the structure described above is of conventional form andoperates in a well known manner. The inventive features of my improvedreel construction will be described.

A pair of reel hubs I4 are mounted on the reel shaft II adjacent therespective ends thereof. The hubs I4 are mounted on the shaft II forangular displacement thereon and are releasably secured against suchdisplacement by set-screws Ilia.

Spokes orarms I5 are mounted at their inner ends on each of the hubs I4and extend radially outwardly therefrom. Reel slats I6 are provided eachof which is secured at one of its ends to the outer end of an arm I5associated with one of the hubs I4 and at the other of its ends to theouter end of a corresponding one of the arms I5 associated with theremaining one of the hubs I4. The reel comprising the hubs I4, arms I5and slats I6 rotates in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1and as indicated by the larger arrow of Fig. 1.

The one of the hubs I4 nearest the delivery end of the conveyor 9 is seton the reel shaft II, in a position angularly displaced in the directionof rotation of the reel with respect to the remaining one of the hubs I4so as to skew each of the slats I6 with respect to a line parallel tothe rotational axis of the reel. The direction of skew is such that therearwardly moving slat I6 at the lowermost portion of the reel faces ina diagonal direction having a rearward principal component and a smallercomponent opposite in direction to the direction of movement of theconveyor 9.

The degree of skew may be readily adjusted by loosening the set-screw Maof one of the hubs l4, suitably angularly displacing that hub and againtightening the set-screw Ha.

In operation of my improved reel the rearwardly traveling lowermost slatl6 thereof imparts to the heads and upper portions of grain stalks notonly rearward movement but also a component of movement opposite indirection to the movement of the conveyor 9 as is indicated by the largearrows in Fig. 2.

This results in the grain stalk being deposited on the conveyor ina'diagonal position wherein the head of the grain is disposed asubstantial distance farther away from the delivery end of the conveyorthan the butt end of the grain. While severing of the butt end of thegrain stalk is being completed the conveyor 9 is progressing the headend of the stalk through the substantial distance mentioned and when thebutt end finally becomes free of the sickle and starts to move with theconveyor 9 the head end of the grain has just completed its movementthrough said substantial distance and the grain stalk is disposedtransversely of the conveyor at right angles to the direction ofmovement thereof. Each stalk of grain delivered to the conveyor willassume the transverse position described and all of the grain will bedelivered by the conveyor to the binding or bundling mechanism in suchposition. Grain so delivered to the binding mechanism will be boundthereby into more compact and better formed bundles than can be producedby grain binders having a reel of conventional type.

To obtain accurate placement of grain on the conveyor in the transverseposition previously described and to adjust the machine for handlinggrain of difierent types the degree of skew of the reel slats I6 issuitably changed by varying the angular displacement of one of the hubsl4 relative to the other on the reel shaft.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, proportions. and arrangement of the parts, withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention, which generally stated,consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above setforth, and in the novel parts and combinations of parts disclosed anddefined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:-

In a grain binder having a sickle and a horizontal conveyor at the rearof said sickle, a reel structure above said sickle comprising a reelshaft, a pair of hubs mounted on said shaft adjacent respective endsthereof, radial slat supporting arms mounted on each of said hubs, aseries of slats, each slat being attached at its respective ends tocorresponding arms of said hubs, the one of said hubs adjacent thedelivery end of said conveyor and the arms carried thereby beingangularly advanced in the direction of rotation of said reel relative tothe other hub and the arms carried thereby so as to skew each of saidslats relative to lines parallel to the axis of said shaft whereby saidreel will impart a component of movement to the heads of grain actedupon thereby in a direction opposite to the direction of movement ofsaid conveyor, and releasable means securing one of said hubs againstrotation on said shaft whereby said hub may be set in various positionson said shaft to set said slats to various degrees of skew.

PAUL SCI-IEWE.

